Lancorla Farmhouse

Lancorla Farmhouse is a granite farmhouse dating from the early to mid-17th century, substantially altered in the early to mid-19th century, with few later changes and additions. The building is constructed of granite rubble with granite dressings, and is roofed in slate with ridge tiles.

The roof structure is asymmetrical: a gable end rises at the left, whilst the right side comprises a range with a hipped roof to the right and a rear gable end. Chimneys include a gable end stack to the left (with a 20th-century brick shaft), a rear lateral stack to the left (with a truncated shaft), and a front lateral stack to the right wing (with a brick shaft); the wing also has a gable end rear stack with a 20th-century brick shaft.

The house was originally planned as a 2-room and through passage house. The left room was heated from a rear lateral stack and was probably originally the hall; the right room was rebuilt, and its original stack no longer survives. In the early to mid-19th century, the lower end of the house was substantially rebuilt as a 2-room cross-wing plan: the front room was heated from a front stack, and the rear room from a gable end stack. A staircase was inserted into the left side of the passage during this period. The higher end room was divided to create a small unheated dairy in the centre, a rear lateral passage, and a left end room heated from an inserted gable end stack. A 20th-century lean-to was added at the rear, set into the angle of the cross wing and now concealing the original rear doorway to the passage. A small 20th-century outhouse is attached to the rear left.

The exterior presents 2 storeys with an asymmetrical 2-window front. All windows are 19th-century in date. The ground floor has a 12-pane sash and a 16-pane sash, both with granite lintels. A 4-centred arched chamfered and stopped granite doorway to the right is fitted with a 20th-century half-glazed door. The first floor has two 16-pane sashes; the left end is blind. The right end has two 19th-century 4-pane sashes at ground and first floor levels. At the rear, a large external stack has had its shaft removed. A small 20th-century single-storey outhouse with door and window stands to the right. To the left, the cross wing presents a blind gable end with an attached privy. A small single-storey lean-to sits in the angle to the main range, fitted with 20th-century windows and a 2-pane light above.

The entrance passage has a slate floor with two granite steps leading down into the cross wing to the right. The right wall contains a keeping hole and is approximately one metre thick. A straight 19th-century staircase was inserted at the left side of the passage, incorporating part of a plank screen at its base. At the rear of the passage is a 4-centred arched granite doorway, chamfered and stopped like the front doorway; this now opens into the rear lean-to. A small unheated central room, originally used as a dairy, retains a slate floor and slate shelves. The rear lateral fireplace survives in granite with a chamfered, depressed 4-centred arch. A 19th-century fireplace at the left gable end has a wooden mantel.

This house is a notable example of a transitional design, originally a 2-room plan that was altered to create an unheated central room. Lower Rosewarrick Farmhouse in Lanivet parish represents the next development of this pattern, having been built with an unheated central room from the outset.